Best NFL Week 16 total bets: Broncos stay in the hunt

The NFL postseason is only three weeks away and, while 26 teams are still technically alive in the playoff race, many are on the verge of elimination.

With a ton of games lined up for this festive weekend, let's get to our best total bets.

Bengals @ Steelers under 38 points

This AFC North rivalry won't be too exciting for fans of high-scoring outings. The Steelers have the fifth-worst scoring offense and have lost three straight, including two to the Patriots and Cardinals.

Pittsburgh's season is crumbling, and an uncertain quarterback situation isn't helping. Kenny Pickett is still out with an injury. Mitch Trubisky started last week, but head coach Mike Tomlin is turning to third-stringer Mason Rudolph to try to turn things around this weekend. Unfortunately, nothing can save Pittsburgh's offense, even though the team's defense is among the top 10 in scoring.

Meanwhile, the Bengals' offense has looked good with Jake Browning under center. The Steelers won 16-10 when these teams met a month ago. Expect a similarly low-scoring game.

Commanders @ Jets under 37

The last three Jets games - and five of the last seven - have gone under 37 points, and they failed to score a single point against the Dolphins last week. New York's offense averages 14.4 points per game, the third-worst mark in the league.

But the Commanders aren't much better. They average 20.1 points per game, the league's 10th-worst mark. And, while Washington has the league's worst defense, it won't make a difference against the Jets' incompetent offense. This is the second-lowest total of the week in what should be the ugliest game of the weekend. Both teams are eliminated from the playoffs, so they aren't competing for much.

Broncos team total: Over 20.5 points

The Broncos are long shots to make the playoffs, but there's still a chance if they win out - which isn't an unreasonable concept with matchups against the Patriots, Chargers, and Raiders.

Sean Payton is in contention for Coach of the Year after turning a group dealing with early-season struggles into a competitive team. Russell Wilson looks like a competent quarterback again and likely saved his job with impressive performances over the last few weeks.

Denver has scored over 20 points in five of its last seven games and will now take on New England's average defense. The Patriots surrender 21.4 points per game and would benefit from losing rather than winning as they've been eliminated from playoff contention. After a down week against the Lions, Denver should bounce back with a notable offensive showing.

Sam Oshtry is a sports betting writer at theScore. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @soshtry for more betting coverage.

Copyright (C) 2023 Score Media Ventures Inc. All rights reserved. Certain content reproduced under license.